Her shoulders stayed tight. Her ears strained for sounds that didn’t belong.
The washing machine suddenly slammed into its high-speed spin cycle. The violent, unbalanced thudding against the metal drum exploded through the quiet.
She screamed.
Not a gasp. Not a startled yelp. A full, raw scream tore out of her before she could stop it, her hands flying up instinctively as her heart slammed against her ribs. The basket tipped, clean clothes spilling across the floor.
Footsteps pounded down the hallway.
“Tess!” Andy burst into the laundry room, eyes wide, chest heaving.
She was already laughing by then—thin and shaky and far too loud. The kind of laugh that didn’t match the situation.
“It’s fine,” she said, lifting the lid of the machine to adjust the load. “I wasn’t paying attention, and the spin cycle caught me off guard.”
Her pulse still thundered in her ears.
Andy’s gaze moved from her face to the jumbled pile on the floor and back again. He didn’t look convinced. Not even a little.
He bent over and tossed the clean clothes back into the basket. “This looks like all my stuff. I’ll fold it.”
Even though she knew some of it would get shoved in wrinkled lumps into his dresser drawers, she didn’t argue. “Thanks.”
The sound of tires in the driveway had her glancing out the room’s small window.
Her shoulders dropped and her heart rate settled when Brian climbed out of his truck, holding a brown paper bag. Behind him, a black-and-white shape launched out of the open driver’s door to join him.
Jinx.
Dan’s lab/pit bull mix barked happily and ran toward the back of the house ahead of Brian. The sight of the goofy dog brought a smile to Tess’s face—a real one this time. She followed Andy out to the hallway and kept going toward the living room when he veered into his bedroom with the laundry basket.
When Brian walked through the back door, warm outside air drifted in with him, along with the faint scent of deli meat and fresh bread.
“I brought reinforcements,” he said, jutting his chin toward the enthusiastic canine who rushed past him.
Jinx barreled straight into her legs, nearly knocking her off balance. She huffed out a surprised breath and dropped to one knee, careful of her ribs, as the dog pressed against her like a living, breathing weighted blanket with fur. She slid her hands over his sleek coat, and he licked her cheek, tail thumping against the floor in rapid-fire beats.
Brian set the bag on the dining table and watched her for a moment, his gaze steady and assessing.
“How are you holding up?”
She scratched behind Jinx’s ears and didn’t look up right away. “Like someone who jumps at noisy washing machines.”
Brian closed the distance between them and held his hand out to her. “C’mon. Let him calm down for a few minutes before he accidentally hurts you.”
She slipped her fingers into his and let him pull her up. The movement tugged at her ribs, and she couldn’t stop the small wince, her free hand instinctively pressing against her side. Brian’s grip tightened immediately, his other hand coming to her waist to steady her. “Easy. Here I am worried about the mutt hurting you, and I do it by helping you up.”
“I’m fine. Just a twinge now and then.”
“I’m sure it’s more than a twinge. Did you take anything for the pain?”
The ER doctor had told her to take acetaminophenif needed when she refused his offer to prescribe something a little stronger. “Yeah, but that was hours ago. I’ll take some more with lunch.”
Jinx circled them in tight, excited loops, his tail thumping against Brian’s leg and nails clicking against the floor. He gave one last happy bark before suddenly deciding there were more interesting things to be found elsewhere and bolted down the hall toward Andy’s room.
Brian’s hand lingered at her waist. Not possessive. Not claiming. Just there—solid and steady. Although, if she were being honest, she had no issue with him claiming her if he wanted to. Her heart already belonged to him, even before he became her savior.
“I’m not leaving you alone right now. And it’s not just for you—it’s for me, too.” His voice wasn’t as steady as he probably intended. “I almost lost you, Tess. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that. So for the next few days, I’m not letting you out of my sight unless you physically throw me out.”
